Portacool PAC2KCYC01 Cyclone 3000 Portable Evaporative Cooler with 700 Square Foot Cooling Capacity, Black

I saw a smaller unit (the 2000) at Home Depot and was impressed on the amount of air it moved. I was looking for a solution for an outdoor patio area that faces west that can get pretty hot during the afternoon sunsets. After reading reviews I chose the 3000 model. With the super saver free shipping, I saved over $150 from the Tractor Supply that carried the unit locally.The unit was easy to set up and is well contructed. The hose connection is somewhat cumbersome and can leak if you don't use a plumming wrench and some plummers tape to put it on. The misconception about this unit is that you don't need to have the hose on constantly or even hooked up for it to operate as it has a 16 gallon tank and can run for several hours in extreme heat without being refilled.The unit acts as promised but expectations have to be managed in more humid climates or outside conditions. This does well for cooling straight line in front of the louvers (which tip up or down but not left or right). People sitting immidately outside the airflow may get some residual cooling effect, but be significantly warmer than the people in the airpath. Ideally made, this would have a left right louver option (like a car vent) in addition to up and down or better yet, some sort of oscillating fan to move the output around other than just a single direction. We placed a moving fan in front of the unit to do just that, and it helped, but the Port-a-Cool fan on the highest speed actually blew the fan over - it's that powerful.Based on it's performance outside in 100+ degree weather, 60% humidity, it made it bareable to be outside. In an enclosed environment, like a barn or garage, the windows or doors must be cracked slighly to allow the room to breathe and vent the more humid air, or you could end up with a sauna, much hotter than you had intended.Overall, I am highly satisfied with this purchase and would recommend purchase of this unit for similar applications, especially versus the cost of running full AC.

I was already interested in these Port-A-Coolers when the company I work for shipped in an entire set of every PAC cooler in production at the time, and I was then convinced on their effectiveness at bringing the temp down to normal, considering our scant amount of cooling already built-in was in need of a serious boost.This will be my third Cyclone now. I'm getting such good service from my other two that I found yet one more excuse to order a third. I had to decide between it and the variable speed 16-Inch model, and since the pricing is a little steep just to have a variable speed, the final choice at half the price was a no-brainer.I use a couple of the variable speed models at work and it is very convenient to adjust down fan speed to compensate for changing temperatures rather than letting fan noise override normal sound levels that for me, eventually becomes quite irritating, especially when not really necessary. At slower speeds, the fans are whisper silent and still force out a sufficient supply of refreshing, cool air.Otherwise the squirrel cage blower offered by the Cyclone design allows for a little quieter operation over the standard fan models, especially in a comparison when each is turned up to warp speed. I have been using my Cyclones at home for three years now and am still amazed at how they work so well on low speed on those scorching hot summer days that confine me to the indoors but have me wearing a sweat shirt to avoid catching a cold. You get a better understanding of why they work so well in dry heat after using them for awhile.I'm just doing a little dream wishing right now, but there are two things I would like to see eventually that should be easy for PAC to add to the Cyclone units:* Variable speed Cyclones* Remote control operationNow wouldn't that be just TOO COOL?

Got the unit a few weeks ago - it came in with a defective water flow valve.The cosmetic quality of this unit is fair to poor - rough finish - looks like it was made in someones back yard. That said, we did not buy the unit for cosmetics.The functionality is better than I had thought - solid stream of cooler air helps in our warehouse. We do have high humidity , and unlike other reviews, I did not find this lessened the impact of the cooling stream of air. This is not an A/C unit, so we did not have unusually high expectations.We called the manufacturer on receipt - and they promissed to immediately send out a new flow valve assembly - they gave me instructions on the phone on how to replace. After 2 weeks, we gave up and returned the unit to Amazon as defective.Amazon is wonderful to deal with. We are a major vendor on Amazon also, and it is nice to see they adhere to the standards they ask us to follow. They have replaced the unit with another - and upon receipt, we will be better able to judge the one true negative we had with this unit .. that being that water was leaking all over the warehouse when we had a hose attached - leaking from multiple places.Be aware - that based on our limited experience - make sure you buy it from a reputable dealer - as you can NOT count on the factory to stand behind the unit. There was a label on the unit instructing us to call the factory with any problems - that turned out to be a waste of time.I would give the unit a higher star rating - but it is impossible to do when you have 2 major strikes to begin with - 1) a defective unit ... 2) a manufacturer who does not follow through. On the seller (this was Amazon itself) .. the seller gets a 5 star rating for handling this problem properly.